Highlights

Worked with universities in the Midwest and beyond to develop solar investment proposals for consideration by university governance boards.

Engaged student deployment teams on each campus to build student, faculty, and alumni support for PV deployment and investment.

Developed a University Roadmap for Solar Investment for use by universities and colleges across the U.S.

Hosted trips and professional development events for staff and faculty at U.S. universities to showcase projects and pathways to greater PV deployment and investment.

Developed a web-based tool for tax-exempt (and taxable) entities to simulate long-term financial forecasts of four types of solar PV investment.

Background

Universities in the Midwest are part of an emerging solar PV market. At the project outset in 2014, this region had only 3% of the nation’s installed solar capacity, but was experiencing the fastest growth rate of any region in the U.S. The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) worked with universities to spur solar development at universities throughout the country by creating solar PV investment proposals for consideration by governance boards on each campus and sharing lessons learned nationally. The MREA team engaged local stakeholders and regional and national experts to create a solar project development roadmap for engaging universities and their foundations in large-scale solar deployment (more than 1 MW) and solar power procurement investment.

Partnering Universities:
Illinois State University
Minnesota State University – Iron Range Engineering*
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Purdue University
Swarthmore College*
University of Minnesota
University of Richmond*
University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
University of Vermont*
Virginia Commonwealth University** denotes preliminary partnerships

Applied Online Course and Campus Roadmaps

MREA engaged student deployment teams at each campus to build student, faculty, and alumni support for solar PV deployment and investment. These teams used the MREA Site Assessment Certification Program to complete site assessments, select potential project sites, and develop a solar investment proposal for each campus. These proposals also recommended the adoption of campus solar deployment goals, on- and off-campus solar investment policies, and the approval of competitive solicitation for solar installation contractors. The project and student teams sought to engage university foundations in building a campaign to rally alumni and donor support for solar deployment. MREA further supported the student teams in concerted campus-wide efforts to organize support for the student-led proposals to governance boards at partnering university campuses.

Campus teams utilized MREA’s online PV certificate programs, encompassing courses, and internship offerings—including the MREA PV Site Assessment Certificate and the MREA PV Design and Sales Certificate—to prepare for the roadmapping process and incentivize student participation. Four partnering campuses created working roadmaps and used site assessments to develop a solar investment proposal for their campuses, which included recommendations for:

The adoption of campus solar deployment goals based on the site assessments.

The adoption of policies to guide university investment in solar assets, both on and off campus.

The approval of a competitive solicitation for full development, financing, installation, and operation to advance campus solar deployment goals.

Tool:Campus PV Development Roadmap- University of Wisconsin Stevens ...Campus PV Development Roadmap- University of Wisconsin Stevens Point

Author: MREA

This roadmap features development plans for on campus PV including stakeholder mapping, site assessment, financial modeling, legal/regulatory review and recommendations for investment.

In addition to the PV and site assessment training offered to students, MREA created a Campus PV Development course to guide partnering campus teams through the solar roadmapping process. Based on lessons learned from the first teams to complete the course, MREA added new instructors and materials, and opened the course up nationally to other teams seeking to move forward with solar investments at their institutions. This updated course, PV Development for Institutions, takes a high-level look at some of the legal and regulatory issues that universities and colleges will face when they decide to deploy solar PV systems, including:

Ownership and third-party models

Goals and objectives for deploying solar, and the importance of institutions focusing on these goals and objectives

Sources of authority for institutions to act

Possible constraints on an institution’s authority to act (organizational, statutory, and contractual)

Local government procedures and constraints institutions will face (including utility issues, zoning, permitting, and inspection)

Ways endowment funds could help with solar projects

Unique issues relating to agreements with utilities and tax-exempt financing

By expanding and applying these efforts to a new cohort of higher education institutions, MREA seeks to further enable the higher education community to deploy PV and make investments that advance their foundation and sustainability goals.

Resources

Tool:PV Project Development CoursePV Project Development Course

Author: MREA

This applied course guides you through creating a unique PV roadmap for your campus, tax-exempt, or taxable entity based on lessons learned from MREA’s pilot campuses.

Solar University Network

Video:Working with a Solar Developer ...Working with a Solar Developer to Make PV Investments on Your Campus

Author: MREA

This webinar covers the PV Development Process, Key Considerations for US universities, and strategies for conducting a successful competitive solicitation.

To advance professional development for faculty and students, stimulate knowledge transfer, and build capacity and coordination among project stakeholders, MREA facilitated industry conferences, planning sessions, site visits, tours, and fact-finding missions. These initiatives—available to participating faculty, students, and project stakeholders—helped the teams identify opportunities, share experiences, and implement strategies for their campuses.

Key highlights include:

A visit to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to review preliminary PV Development Roadmaps prepared by each university’s student deployment team.

Investment in Solar

This tutorial shows how to use the Solar Finance Simulator to simulate long-term financial forecasting for PV investments.

A finance simulator can clarify which type of project to pursue based on internal constraints and preferences. MREA and Sustainable Capital Advisors developed the Solar Finance Simulator, an easy-to-use online tool for universities, hospitals, K-12 schools, municipalities, and businesses to simulate long-term financial forecasting for PV investments. Using their own values, users can simulate and compare financial projections for four different investment models. The tool can be used to guide or validate potential projects, compare proposals, or simply help users become more familiar with financing structures and common transaction costs.

MREA, together with its partners, set out to develop solar investment proposals and campaigns for engaging alumni, donors, and university governance boards in renewable energy investment. As a first step, the MREA team created a case study series highlighting solar energy investment projects in higher education to showcase financial models for universities and other higher education institutions looking to invest in on-campus solar energy.

Case study:Wake Technical Community College: Public College Foundation Investment ...Wake Technical Community College: Public College Foundation Investment in Solar

Author: MREA & Second Nature

This case study follows the decision-making and PV project development path at Wake Technical College and illustrates the investment potential for institutional foundations.

Tools to expand into new markets, including the Solar Finance Simulator, a community solar Business Case Tool, and a system sizing tool.

Next Steps and Key Takeaways

MREA has learned that higher education institutions are primed for the next wave of large-scale solar in the U.S. The success of their student-based projects demonstrated that students are a driving force on campus. By using their status to gain access to internal stakeholders, students have the ability to develop projects that fit the institution’s direct needs. They also have the ability to mobilize many different groups on campus, creating the momentum to advance large-scale solar projects. Institutional champions are equally important when determining a project’s success. The role of the internal champion—staff, faculty, alumni, or another internal stakeholder—is to guide student teams, translate their research and momentum into an attractive option for the institution, and work with internal stakeholders to get the project approved.

Internal champions capable of gaining access to the information that can determine a project’s success are also important when considering how local politics or internal drivers—like a push to decrease tuition—may affect a project. Similarly, on- and off-campus relationships can alter the likelihood of success.

The presence of supportive policy is another determinant of institutional success. In the absence of enabling policy (e.g., absent net metering regulations or ambiguous legal status of power purchase agreements), large-scale solar PV investments are higher risk and offer less potential payoff, often tipping the scale away from widespread campus support. Conversely, clear and supportive policies decrease investment risk by limiting unknown variables and offer financing mechanisms more favorable to institutions.

Contact us

The information, data, or work presented herein was funded in part by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE),
U.S. Department of Energy, under Award Number DE-EE0006907.